Page 3 of A Surprise for the Holidays
“Permanently?”
“…Yes.”
With his head spinning again, AJ gave in and sat down heavily on the grass, dimly aware of his players stopping their practice game and looking towards him in concern. He waved them off, his attention still on the call.
His first thought was one of compassion for the little girl he’d yet to meet. How would she feel being shipped around the world, away from her mother, to a strange man she likely knew squat about? It made his heart ache. Having grown up in a loving home, if either of his parents had suddenly wanted nothing to do with him at that age, it would have broken him.
“Why would you do that to her?” The question tumbled from his lips before he could stop himself, and he ran his trembling spare hand through his hair. “You’re all she’s ever known and—”
“The thing is,” Betty interrupted, likely having anticipated an argument, even though he wasn’t refusing her, “I was young when she was born. Too young. And I’ve made sacrifices her whole life. My career, my body, my love life…everything. But I’ve met someone. And we’re getting married. And he wants to start fresh, so…”
AJ’s heart completely shattered for Ava as Betty trailed off, sounding indifferent. He understood that his former fling had made sacrifices, and he appreciated that motherhood wasn’t a walk in the park (his mum, sister, and sister-in-law had all made that very clear over the years) but he couldn’t imagine that it would be so easy to just let her daughter go and wipe her hands of the whole ordeal.
To choose a new man’s desires over her own flesh and blood…August felt his blood boiling again. Even if Ava wasn’t his, hewould rather give her a loving home over whatever cold situation she was leaving behind.
Impulsively, with this last thought ringing in his ears, he asked, “When are you sending her?”
Chapter 2
August
Of all the things AJ originally thought he’d be doing on a stinking hot Saturday afternoon in early-November, picking up a kid he’d only learned about two weeks earlier from Brisbane International Airport was not one of them.
He’d arranged discrete DNA tests as soon as he had gotten off the phone call which had changed his life, paying extra to expedite the results, and —when they’d come back confirming Betty’s claims— the rest of her plans had launched into motion.
In the intervening weeks, he had Facetimed with Ava twice, wanting her to be able to put a face to his name (and wantingto be able to do the same with her) before she came to live with him.
Through the iPad screen, he could see the resemblances Betty had told him about. She had dark blonde hair, a smattering of freckles across her nose and cheeks, and eyes the same shade of blue as his own. She’d been cute and bubbly, reminding him a lot of his nephew at the same age, and had demanded the right to call him ‘Daddy’, even though he’d told her that AJ or August was fine.
It was going to take some getting used to.
Getting a solicitor to draw up an appropriate custody arrangement and have it sent to Betty had also been a priority. Unsurprisingly, but depressingly, she had signed the papers without any argument, despite the terms being heavily in his favour. Even though he was terrified of throwing himself into fatherhood so late in the game, he vowed that he’d never let Ava feel unwanted on his watch.
His family, though over in the UK, were also incredibly supportive, which helped settle his anxieties about the entire situation. As soon as he’d gotten off the phone from Betty, he’d found three voicemail messages from Freddy. It had seemed as though Betty had called AJ immediately following her own conversation with his brother, beating the older man to the punch.
Though the chat with his former fling had thrown AJ for a loop, he was glad that she’d been the one to deliver the news, and not his older brother. As compassionate and supportive as Freddy was, there had been a little bit of derision over AJ’s past behaviour when they’d finally spoken. While he knew he’d deserved it, he also knew there was no changing the past. There was only moving forward.
Which was why he was anxiously pacing around the crowded Arrivals Hall of Brisbane International Airport on asunny Saturday afternoon in the critical early weeks of the football season, instead of running through additional plays and strategies with his team.
Thank Christ they weren’t playing again until Wednesday.
Ava had boarded a plane —by herself; something that distressed August more than he’d cared to admit, even if she did have a personal member of the airline staff looking after her for the entire trip— over twenty-four hours earlier. There was a stopover in Perth, where AJ had received confirmation that the little girl had touched down and was in safe hands for the transition to her connecting flight, but he’d needed to see her with his own eyes. In person.
Part of him thought he should have flown back to London to escort her home himself, but Betty had talked him out of it. With his anxiety ratcheting, he regretted not going with his gut instinct.
‘You should have asked someone to be there with you,’Freddy texted in response to August’s message admitting his nerves.‘First time meeting your kid is a big deal.’
‘Exactly,’August typed back, his eyes glancing towards the arrivals gate as muscle memory guided his fingers across the screen,‘I don’t have anyone here I’m comfortable enough sharing that with.’
That was a sad admission, he knew. He’d been living in the God-forsakenly hot country for four months and hadn’t made any friends, and certainly hadn’t made any romantic connections either. Being a workaholic, he hadn’t really noticed how lonely his existence was…until an ex-lover had dropped a five-year-old secret on him and forced him to rethink everything about the way he lived his life.
‘You could always come home.’
Not bothering to respond to that, AJ tucked the phone away in his pocket. It buzzed again inside the denim. With nothingelse to distract himself, he pulled it back out and read the message.
Freddy had followed up with:‘Send photos and let us know when Ava’s settled. And call if you need anything.’
A small smile tugged the corners of his lips upwards.‘Will do.’
